At first I believed the doctors when they said stress could not trigger something like Alopecia. His explanation was somewhere along the lines of "well if that were the case, everyone who stresses would have Alopecia". However, reading about the effects stress can have on your health - especially your stomach - I began to reconsider. My daughter is highly emotional...most of the time. Little things get her very upset, she takes what people do and say VERY personal and I believe she worries more than the average 5 year old. At times she gets so upset that she coughs and cries until the point of vomiting. For most kids the would not pose a problem, but again, since she is already genetically predisposed to having this condition. her level of stress can effect her in ways that it would not effect other people. In addition, I have looked up several articles that says stress and hair are related. I understand what the doctors are saying, however, I do believe her situation is different.
Diet -It Matters!!
"Mommy I have to THROW UP!!!"
My Little Worry Wart
Stress
Your copyright - 2013
Akilah's Alopecia Adventure
There were many instances over the years that Akhilah vomited during or after meals. After first we thought that she was not chewing her food, however, as she got older the problem did not go away and became very perplexing. At first I thought it was dairy - but there were other times that we did not eat anything with dairy in it and she would still vomit. Often times, after about two to five minutes into the meal she would begin coughing, and then the coughing would lead to her vomiting. There were also instance were she didn't cough at all - and after the meal she would still throw up. I believe that something in the food was irritating her stomach - and I have reason to believe that since the majority of our immune system lives in our gut - consuming foods that irritate our stomach/digestive system can be very problematic for someone who is predisposed an auto-immune disease.
Triggers
First off let me start my saying, I am in no way, shape or form a doctor; nor do I have any formal training in any healthcare related fields. I am simply a mother that has made quite a few observations over the years and decided to act on those observations. The doctors that I have been to reiterated several times that Alopecia is an auto-immune disease that is NOT related to diet or stress - an aside from genes - they have no clue as to what causes it and what "turns it on or off". I find it very hard to believe that my daughter's triggers are not diet (primarily) and stress (secondly). Below are the observations I've made over the years. I hope they help you in your own quest to pinpoint triggers with your child/self.
First off let me start my saying, I am in no way, shape or form a doctor; nor do I have any formal training in any healthcare related fields. I am simply a mother that has made quite a few observations over the years and decided to act on those observations. The doctors that I have been to reiterated several times that Alopecia is an auto-immune disease that is NOT related to diet or stress - an aside from genes - they have no clue as to what causes it and what "turns it on or off". I find it very hard to believe that my daughter's triggers are not diet (primarily) and stress (secondly). Below are the observations I've made over the years. I hope they help you in your own quest to pinpoint triggers with your child/self.
When Akhilah's hair shed aggressively during 2012. I always believed that it from the change in environment/diet. In January she started school and in February her hair began shedding like crazy. I'm not for sure if there was anything environmental that could have irritated her, but I strongly believe that she was introduced to something that triggered this. Unfortunately at the time, I was not very sure if this was the cause, so I did not look into the menu. We eventually stopped her from going to the program and waited until the fall to send her to another program. In the meantime I've had two allergy tests done. One told me that she was allergic to EVERYTHING under the sun - this was the blood test. The second test - when they check for your skins reaction - showed a reaction peanut butter and shellfish. I've kept her away from those two thus far, but I do believe there is more that I can to improve her diet and strengthen her immune system. When Akhilah began to shed her hair most recently, she had just fought a cold and two holidays (where her plate was oversaturated with EVERYTHING). However, most important is the cold/virus she experienced. Akhilah was out of school for six days and at home for ten days. Her return to school would have been sooner, but her asthma/bronchitis/upper respiratory issues flared up and I decided to keep her home a few extra days. This occurred at the beginning of December (one week after Thanksgiving break). Shortly after I noticed her hair loss - call me crazy but I do believe there is a correlation.
